Results: Net income for Maidenform Brands Inc. fell to $5.8 million (25 cents per share) vs. $14.5 million (62 cents per share) a year earlier. This is a decline of 59.7% from the year-earlier quarter.

Quoting Management: “We modestly beat our sales and earnings expectations for the quarter and our outlook for the year remains on track,” stated Maurice S. Reznik, Chief Executive Officer. “Despite a choppy retail environment for women’s intimate apparel, we grew domestic share across channels and categories in the first quarter, which reflects the power of our brands and the relevance of our products.”

Key Stats:

Last quarter was the fifth in a row that the company saw shrinking gross margins, as they fell 6.8 percentage points from the year-earlier quarter to 27.2%. Over that time, margins have contracted on average 5.3 percentage points per quarter on a year-over-year basis.

A year-over-year revenue decrease last quarter snaps a streak of four consecutive quarters of revenue increases. The best quarter in that span was the first quarter of the last fiscal year, which saw revenue rise 14.4%.

The company beat estimates last quarter after falling short in the previous two quarters. In the fourth quarter of the last fiscal year, it missed the mark by one cent, and in the third quarter of the last fiscal year, it came in under estimates by 11 cents.

The company reported a profit last quarter after being in the red the prior quarter. In the third quarter of the last fiscal year, the company booked a net loss of $10.2 million, or a loss of 44 cents per share.

Looking Forward: Over the last 30 days, analysts have not been optimistic about the company’s next-quarter performance. The average estimate for the second quarter is now 56 cents per share, down from 62 cents. For the fiscal year, the average estimate has moved down from $1.94 a share to $1.81 over the last ninety days.